Nice art, BTW. Although that's one huge summon. Imagine if 12 Sorcerers called forth their dragon. Ooh the horror. Hmm what if you can summon one huge dragon but it needs 2 or more Sorcerers similar as to how Alexander was summoned in FF9? The Summoners are rendered immobile, SP drained over time, Dragon is boss type. Only one instance per Guild can be summon or let there be a /sorcerer command that shows the top 10 sorcerers and are given the authority to summon Dragons?? Nice isn't it??

^i uh, just borrowed it for a while, nice idea on how the dragon is to be summoned, btw. actually it was from nydhogg's sprite. I only changed its color and trimmed down some fat, i mean muscles, bones whatever to make it look smaller from its original size.. Also, i added your gryphon's chest shield. and oh, your RG's shoulder pads were attached to my dragon's knee pads lols.

The idea of feathers on the back of the dragon also came from my idea of
the sorcerer transforming into a dragon. Notice the color of the feathers of the male and female sorcerer/ess and the color of the dragon's feathers.
the transformation skill is a quest skill and can only be accessed at a certain level, maybe the highest base level

below is a fictional story i made last april 11, 2009 and posted on Ragnaboards, pRO sorcerer speculations... some of the 3rd classes' names, skills etc were not yet confirmed at that time.

how about advanced dragonology, too much research and attachment on dragons gave you the ability to transform yourself into a dragon.

================================================== ================
it was a high noon. a small guild recalled their experience as they waited for the last minute during the war of emperium. a ninja hiding from the entrance, a star gladiator and a soul linker ready to leap from behind the walls. they were all waiting for the signal from the gunslinger who uses his rifle to snipe for their chance to seize a castle on a hilltop. waiting for the invading guild to leave the castle once they have captured it. using the monocular from his rifle, he peeked through the windows and saw a massacre, he peeked again at the farthest window where he can see the emperium. someone must've casted an earthquake, the celing fell and debris blocked the only window of the emperium room. moments later, darkness came, the gunslinger thought of a storm coming but it was a hot burning noon. he gaze up to the sky and saw a dark cloud moving so fast toward that castle, he took his long barrel and peeked through the monocular and checked on the odd cloud. the gunslinger called his guildmates and they were ordered to get out of there. they went high up on the cliff and the gunslinger let his guildmates borrow his rifles and see through the monoculars and checked out what is about to happen
in the courtyard

"..enemies killed everyone in their path.. everyone.. loyal guardians.. allies.. friends.. loved ones.. even a guildless party.. they were merciless. they were determined to get the castle recently captured by another small guild with members of about 10~12. as they rushed into the emperium room, they all thought that the defending guild were finished, well, almost..
a sorcerer walked from behind the emperium and gazed upon them furiously, he held out a scroll and began reading an ancient text, a language unknown to everyone else in that room. then suddenly, the sorcerer's eyes became as bright as a sun, the ground shook, the ceiling collapsed, letting the sun's rays lit the whole room. a thick smoke came from nowhere and there was a bright light, a light brighter than the sun, it blinded everyone for a few seconds. moments later, the smoke rised and the sorcerer is gone with no trace. the guildmaster, a fierce breaker, rushed towards the emperium but suddenly, a huge shadow appeared from the thick smoke. the rangers' wolves stepped back. the mechanics immediately fired rocket punches through the thick smoke but they heard a ferocious flapping sound sending the knuckles back hitting them instead. the rune knights ordered their feruses to approach the scene to start the attack but they heard a piercing sound coming from within the smoke and the feruses flee with terror. the rangers fired their arrows through the smoke and two fiery eyes were seen from it. then the smoke was cleared when a breath of fire came out of a huge dragon, burning all of the arrows and its ashes fell to the ground.. the dragon breathe again, this time it was a freezing breath. it froze everyone who were caught by that icy breath, the guild master and the others run outside the room, he summoned his last army.. a battalion of rune knights with their land dragons and royal guards mounted on their gryphons. the dragon that followed the guild master didn't fear for what it had seen, thus, it screamed like a banshee from the monastery halting the charging battalion. then one royal guard saw something in the sky, a smoke! no, it's a dark cloud! holy poopoo hat!! those are.. dragons?!! the dragon called its minions!! all of them, they breathe fire creating firestorms and burned the plants summoned by the generics, froze the archbishops and the suras with their cold breath, casted lightning on the guillotine crosses and their shadows, the minstrels and wanderers were singing out of tune debuffing all of their guildmates and the shadow chasers fell on their own manholes. the royal guards stood their grounds, held their shields up high protecting them and the rune knights from the burning flames, freezing smoke and lightning strikes. they thought they were saved, a rune knight peeked through the shields' gap, the dragons are diving one by one, they are different from the other breathing types. as they hit the ground, massive earthquakes hit the whole courtyard, the ground opened and swallowed the whole battalion. their guild master and the warlocks run as fast as they could, but the master dragon appeared and returned to his human form. the warlocks casted a comet but the sorcerer absorbed the huge comet and threw it back to the warlocks. their eyes almost popped out of their eye sockets as they watched their powerful comet return to them. but before the comet hit them, the warlocks took their butterfly wing from their pockets and teleported back to their respawn point. the guild master, knew the comet would also destroy him, search for a butterfly wing in his pocket but found nothing. the sorcerer shouted saying "run out of bwings?! the guild master answered back " i won't die from that giant rock! it won't hit me hahaha!! then took a bottle containing a deadly poison and drank it, killing himself instantly sending him back to his respawn point.."

"..chasing after a metaling that stole his loots, a super novice held up his hand high with his sword ready to strike the robber. then suddenly something fell from the sky and popped the metal blob, it was a scroll, with odd characters and figures. he took it, sat under the apple tree and began staring at the characters. he recognized the characters, it was the same from one of the ancient books he read from secret shelves at the juno library. he read the inscriptions from the last page first, as he uttered the last character, the earth shook, an unripe apple dropped and fell on his head then a smoke puffed. he turned into a flying petite.." end.

*again, some of the 3rd classes' names, skills etc were not yet confirmed at that time.

================================================== ================
it was a high noon. a small guild recalled their experience as they waited for the last minute during the war of emperium. a ninja hiding from the entrance, a star gladiator and a soul linker ready to leap from behind the walls. they were all waiting for the signal from the gunslinger who uses his rifle to snipe for their chance to seize a castle on a hilltop. waiting for the invading guild to leave the castle once they have captured it. using the monocular from his rifle, he peeked through the windows and saw a massacre, he peeked again at the farthest window where he can see the emperium. someone must've casted an earthquake, the celing fell and debris blocked the only window of the emperium room. moments later, darkness came, the gunslinger thought of a storm coming but it was a hot burning noon. he gaze up to the sky and saw a dark cloud moving so fast toward that castle, he took his long barrel and peeked through the monocular and checked on the odd cloud. the gunslinger called his guildmates and they were ordered to get out of there. they went high up on the cliff and the gunslinger let his guildmates borrow his rifles and see through the monoculars and checked out what is about to happen
in the courtyard

"..enemies killed everyone in their path.. everyone.. loyal guardians.. allies.. friends.. loved ones.. even a guildless party.. they were merciless. they were determined to get the castle recently captured by another small guild with members of about 10~12. as they rushed into the emperium room, they all thought that the defending guild were finished, well, almost..
a sorcerer walked from behind the emperium and gazed upon them furiously, he held out a scroll and began reading an ancient text, a language unknown to everyone else in that room. then suddenly, the sorcerer's eyes became as bright as a sun, the ground shook, the ceiling collapsed, letting the sun's rays lit the whole room. a thick smoke came from nowhere and there was a bright light, a light brighter than the sun, it blinded everyone for a few seconds. moments later, the smoke rised and the sorcerer is gone with no trace. the guildmaster, a fierce breaker, rushed towards the emperium but suddenly, a huge shadow appeared from the thick smoke. the rangers' wolves stepped back. the mechanics immediately fired rocket punches through the thick smoke but they heard a ferocious flapping sound sending the knuckles back hitting them instead. the rune knights ordered their feruses to approach the scene to start the attack but they heard a piercing sound coming from within the smoke and the feruses flee with terror. the rangers fired their arrows through the smoke and two fiery eyes were seen from it. then the smoke was cleared when a breath of fire came out of a huge dragon, burning all of the arrows and its ashes fell to the ground.. the dragon breathe again, this time it was a freezing breath. it froze everyone who were caught by that icy breath, the guild master and the others run outside the room, he summoned his last army.. a battalion of rune knights with their land dragons and royal guards mounted on their gryphons. the dragon that followed the guild master didn't fear for what it had seen, thus, it screamed like a banshee from the monastery halting the charging battalion. then one royal guard saw something in the sky, a smoke! no, it's a dark cloud! holy poopoo hat!! those are.. dragons?!! the dragon called its minions!! all of them, they breathe fire creating firestorms and burned the plants summoned by the generics, froze the archbishops and the suras with their cold breath, casted lightning on the guillotine crosses and their shadows, the minstrels and wanderers were singing out of tune debuffing all of their guildmates and the shadow chasers fell on their own manholes. the royal guards stood their grounds, held their shields up high protecting them and the rune knights from the burning flames, freezing smoke and lightning strikes. they thought they were saved, a rune knight peeked through the shields' gap, the dragons are diving one by one, they are different from the other breathing types. as they hit the ground, massive earthquakes hit the whole courtyard, the ground opened and swallowed the whole battalion. their guild master and the warlocks run as fast as they could, but the master dragon appeared and returned to his human form. the warlocks casted a comet but the sorcerer absorbed the huge comet and threw it back to the warlocks. their eyes almost popped out of their eye sockets as they watched their powerful comet return to them. but before the comet hit them, the warlocks took their butterfly wing from their pockets and teleported back to their respawn point. the guild master, knew the comet would also destroy him, search for a butterfly wing in his pocket but found nothing. the sorcerer shouted saying "run out of bwings?! the guild master answered back " i won't die from that giant rock! it won't hit me hahaha!! then took a bottle containing a deadly poison and drank it, killing himself instantly sending him back to his respawn point.."

"..chasing after a metaling that stole his loots, a super novice held up his hand high with his sword ready to strike the robber. then suddenly something fell from the sky and popped the metal blob, it was a scroll, with odd characters and figures. he took it, sat under the apple tree and began staring at the characters. he recognized the characters, it was the same from one of the ancient books he read from secret shelves at the juno library. he read the inscriptions from the last page first, as he uttered the last character, the earth shook, an unripe apple dropped and fell on his head then a smoke puffed. he turned into a flying petite.." end.

*again, some of the 3rd classes' names, skills etc were not yet confirmed at that time.

they're nice, but the female's dress a bit too dark and lacks contrast, maybe if you add some linings to

her dress like what you did for the male's which is a bit better.

maybe those feathers spring out raven wings?

yeah, i've noticed that too when i opened that image on a desktop pc. the reason is when i did the coloring thing, the screen of my laptop isn't tilted on an angle appropriate for my view so i see the color of her gown very much lighter than what it is really seen.

about the linings and colors, i'm working on it as you wish

raven wings? hmmm a lot of ideas are now playing on my mind, i just couldn't catch them

Try greying the colors or using grey shades inside of the more vivid colors. In this sense RO emulates some realism instead of that washed up anime style. I have the same problem when revamping RO sprites because greys seem ugly as individual colors, but when you combine then with their more vivid counterparts to create a more realistic looking piece of costume. The use of purely strong colors is what gives some designs the "private server look" and is often held as a form of degradation of RO's spritework. :P Other than that, I like the dragon though I think you should blend the colors and refer to the comic for it's chest. Keep up the good work or I'll have to introduce Billy Shears and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band xP

Another Leona fail. That sura girl's ankles are sooooo skinny and the pose is a gigantic yawn, not to mention the plastic boobs with wrappings that magically meld to her skin. There's just no energy in the picture.

I have mixed feelings about the SD genetic. There are so many neon candy colours going on and I'm not a fan of massive giganto eyes, but on the other hand it has more energy than most of the art put out by Gravity thus far. Still pales in comparison to MJL's art from RWC though.

Another Leona fail. That sura girl's ankles are sooooo skinny and the pose is a gigantic yawn, not to mention the plastic boobs with wrappings that magically meld to her skin. There's just no energy in the picture.

I have mixed feelings about the SD genetic. There are so many neon candy colours going on and I'm not a fan of massive giganto eyes, but on the other hand it has more energy than most of the art put out by Gravity thus far. Still pales in comparison to MJL's art from RWC though.

I agree for the most part, but I gave up on the "official" art after Rune Knight and Guillotine Cross. The costumes are pretty but as far as creating fictional portraiture to entice players to give Sura a whirl, it crashes and burns. The colors are gorgeous but the thumbs look like they were forcibly shrunken.The thing that caught me most was that the thighs are way to long in comparison to the torso and foreleg. The breasts (as you mentioned) are unnaturally circular and busty, the feet look like they were crushed and the ankles don't look like they could support of any of it. The last thing that bugged me was the most obvious... pink hair? It didn't bug me so much that it deviated from female Monk's previous 2 blonde arts, but it ate at me that an unnatural almost neon-light color was used for a character that represents natural strength... The male Sura wasn't much better either...

Roid rage anyone?... I don't think it's possible to have a face and feet so small with an upper torso, arms and hands so big...

Edit: I also just noticed that the left (character's left) bicep is deflated, but the tricep is enormous... o-O

I think whoever is drawing these is now going for sex appeal to 14 year olds... I liked Sura's sprites, and the original pseudo-realism used for the Acolyte, Monk and Champion artworks. While many people complain pages back about the refurbished poses of the spritework, I found a costume change refreshing enough. But the official art only flaunts the costume with to many "flattering" details which makes the overall quality suffer.

Edit 2 (@Pepper): Definite progress, you should probably go back and lighten the insides of the clothing, restore some of the details lost in the color flood, and give some of your own details (a few stripes here and there maybe so that when you shade you can create full contrast?)

I actually don't think his torso is so big. He's just well builed with not fat whatsoever. To me, a big torso was the one MJL gave to Male Shadow Chasers.

I've seen several, well trained young Tae-kwon-do masters with an identical build. (they even work the arms, which they don't use that much compared to Shuras). The triceps are insane though.

I like the female one a lot, except for the pink hair. Apart from that, she reminds me of my latino influence. Here in Dominican Republic young women around ages 23-28 look pretty much like that. A liiitle bit darker and of course without PINK hair <___<.

That's the problem. Those are legs we typically attribute to RO dancer classes, but not neccessarily the build of a martial artist. Is she fit? Probably. Does she look ready to kick ass? Not really. Even the Genetic SD has better body proportions than the sura aside from the massive head.

This was dissapointing especially when there was so much action in the old monk and champion art. No fighter stands with such stiff legs and with their arms in such an awkward, uncomfortable looking position.

if you want some help to make it match the real sprites more, i have a few tips

1. find an existing sprite with the color (or close to it) of what you want, zoom in and use the eyedropper to select all the different shades that make up the full gradient of the color (usually 3-4 colors that are strangely odd looking but look great when next to each other!) Use these colors to compare your edit's to or draw with them if you are creating a new design element

2. do not use black. ro has 99% no true black. The colors they substitute for it are desaturated dark brown and purple. Examples of these colors are found on the sinx sprite and hylozoist

3. (photoshop only) sometimes when you edit the hue or lightness/darkness of a colored area you will need to also adjust the levels/curves in order to keep the different shades that make shadows/highlight.

That's the problem. Those are legs we typically attribute to RO dancer classes, but not neccessarily the build of a martial artist. Is she fit? Probably. Does she look ready to kick ass? Not really. Even the Genetic SD has better body proportions than the sura aside from the massive head.

This was dissapointing especially when there was so much action in the old monk and champion art. No fighter stands with such stiff legs and with their arms in such an awkward, uncomfortable looking position.

Not only that, but the more action that exists within an image, the less important proportion becomes because action works on exaggeration. The amount of exaggeration and pseudo-realism is what made the original character arts neat (and they emulated the sprite's action oriented poses and movements)